French Fried: one man's move to France with too many animals and an identity thief

French Fried: one man's move to France with too many animals and an identity thief

Author: Chris Dolley

Publisher: Book View Cafe

Published: 2010-06-24

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 1452476608

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** New York Times Bestseller ** Animals behaving badly, other people's misfortunes and the most bizarre true crime story ever. French Fried is the unfortunately true account of Chris Dolley's first eight months in France and has been described as 'A Year in Provence with Miss Marple and Gerald Durrell.' Just when Chris and Shelagh think nothing more could possibly go wrong, they discover that Chris's identity has been stolen and their life savings - all the money from their house sale in England that was going to finance their new life in France - had disappeared. A bank account had been opened in Chris's name in Spain to take the proceeds. Then they're abandoned by the police forces of four countries who all insist the crime belongs in someone else's jurisdiction. The French say it's an Irish crime as that's where the money was held. The Irish say it's French as that's where all the correspondence came from. The British say it's nothing to do with them even though forged British passports were used to open the bank account in Spain. And the Spanish are on holiday - and can't even think about investigating any bank account for at least four weeks. So Chris has to solve the crime himself. But unlike fictional detectives he has an 80 year-old mother-in-law and an excitable puppy who insist they come along if he's going anywhere interesting - like a stakeout. REVIEWS "This was a fantastic read. It had me laughing so much that I nearly got relegated to the sofa! Once I had started reading this book, I could not put it down, I was even quite happy to miss my favourite TV programmes!" - Bookmarked "When I downloaded this book this morning, I had every intention of putting it on my phone and reading it in dribs and drabs. And now I appear to have finished the book! The best thing about 'French Fried' is it's sense of humour; warm, self-deprecating, and very British. Literally laugh out loud in several places (I'm glad I'm the only one home!)." - Librarything "Chris Dolley's humour reminds me of James Herriot at times, with my husband shushing me in the middle of the night. I could not put this book down and enjoyed it immensely. The characters, especially Nan, were life-size." - Salammi


The Aunt Paradox

The Aunt Paradox

Author: Chris Dolley

Publisher: Book View Cafe

Published: 2014-06-09

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 1611383919

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HG Wells has a problem. His Aunt Charlotte has borrowed his time machine and won’t give it back. Now she’s rewriting history! Reggie Worcester, gentleman’s consulting detective, and his automaton valet, Reeves, are hired to retrieve the time machine and put the timeline back together. But things get complicated. Dead bodies start piling up behind Reggie’s sofa, as he finds himself embroiled in an ever-changing murder mystery. A murder mystery where facts can be rewritten, and the dead don’t always stay dead. This 100 page novella is the third instalment in the Reeves and Worcester Steampunk Mysteries. "A fun blend of P.G. Wodehouse, steampunk and a touch of Sherlock Holmes. Dolley is a master at capturing and blending all these elements. More than fascinating, this work is also rip-roaring fun!" - SF Revu


The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall

The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall

Author: Chris Dolley

Publisher: Book View Cafe

Published: 2016-02-09

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1611385547

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Wodehouse steampunk version of The Hound of the Baskervilles! "Jeeves and Wooster meet Holmes and Watson with a touch of steampunk in the hilarious first full-length Reeves and Worcester tale ... This laugh-out-loud parody works on several levels ... With razor-sharp wit and fast pacing that plays fair with the reader, this is an excellent genre mash-up that fires on all cylinders." - Publishers Weekly An escaped cannibal, a family curse ... and Reginald Worcester turning up on the doorstep. Could things get any worse for the Baskerville-Smythe family? As the bodies pile up, only a detective with a rare brain - and Reggie's is so rare it's positively endangered - can even hope to solve the case. But... there is the small matter that most of the guests aren't who they say they are, the main suspect has cloven feet, and a strange mist hangs over great Grimdark Mire. Luckily the young master has Reeves, his automaton valet, and Emmeline, his suffragette fiancée, on hand to assist. This novel is the fifth Reeves & Worcester Steampunk mystery. The first two mysteries were published in the ebook What Ho, Automaton! The first four were published in the trade paperback What Ho, Automata. REVIEWS: "A sheer delight to read and Mr. Dolley channeled Wodehouse beautifully." - Mary R. Fairchild "Dolley melds steampunk with Wodehousian manor house mystery, with a dash of Sherlock Holmes and Oscar Wilde thrown in, making a delightful whole that had me laughing out loud." - Sherwood Smith "Totally awesome." - Elizabeth Sorenson "Chris Dolley has perfectly recreated the characters and storytelling style of P. G. Wodehouse. "The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall" is very highly recommended." - Midwest Book Review "I haven't read a series of books in my entire life that made me laugh out loud at least four times and uncountable chuckles. Every one was absolutely hilarious and certainly the best parodies of Holmes and Watson that I have come across." - Peter S Jasion "Chris Dolley has created a pastiche that evokes as many laughs as the original Bertie and Jeeves, if not more." - Kadlady "Very clever writing and I laughed out loud." - Sally Evans "This book is a delight. It perfectly catches the spirit and the humour of the original PG Wodehouse works while adding a whole new dimension." - Hopback "Chris Dolley does an excellent job of imitating Wodehouse's writing style and pays a bit of homage to Oscar Wilde. Reading Reggie's attempts to emulate famous detectives and solve this Baskerville mystery is hilarious. Laughs abounded. I highly recommend this book." - Howard Poston


A Year in Provence

A Year in Provence

Author: Peter Mayle

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2010-05-19

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0307755495

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.


Sophie's World

Sophie's World

Author: Jostein Gaarder

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2007-03-20

Total Pages: 599

ISBN-13: 1466804270

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A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.


Indianapolis Monthly

Indianapolis Monthly

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2001-12

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13:

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Indianapolis Monthly is the Circle City’s essential chronicle and guide, an indispensable authority on what’s new and what’s news. Through coverage of politics, crime, dining, style, business, sports, and arts and entertainment, each issue offers compelling narrative stories and lively, urbane coverage of Indy’s cultural landscape.


New York Magazine

New York Magazine

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1991-09-23

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13:

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New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.


When in French

When in French

Author: Lauren Collins

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-11-07

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 014311073X

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A language barrier is no match for love. Lauren Collins discovered this firsthand when, in her early thirties, she moved to London and fell for a Frenchman named Olivier—a surprising turn of events for someone who didn’t have a passport until she was in college. But what does it mean to love someone in a second language? Collins wonders, as her relationship with Olivier continues to grow entirely in English. Are there things she doesn’t understand about Olivier, having never spoken to him in his native tongue? Does “I love you” even mean the same thing as “je t’aime”? When the couple, newly married, relocates to Francophone Geneva, Collins—fearful of one day becoming "a Borat of a mother" who doesn’t understand her own kids—decides to answer her questions for herself by learning French. When in French is a laugh-out-loud funny and surprising memoir about the lengths we go to for love, as well as an exploration across culture and history into how we learn languages—and what they say about who we are. Collins grapples with the complexities of the French language, enduring excruciating role-playing games with her classmates at a Swiss language school and accidently telling her mother-in-law that she’s given birth to a coffee machine. In learning French, Collins must wrestle with the very nature of French identity and society—which, it turns out, is a far cry from life back home in North Carolina. Plumbing the mysterious depths of humanity’s many forms of language, Collins describes with great style and wicked humor the frustrations, embarrassments, surprises, and, finally, joys of learning—and living in—French.


Too Much Loss: Coping with Grief Overload

Too Much Loss: Coping with Grief Overload

Author: Alan Wolfelt

Publisher: Companion Press

Published: 2020-09-01

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 1617222887

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Grief overload is what you feel when you experience too many significant losses all at once, in a relatively short period of time, or cumulatively. In addition to the deaths of loved ones, such losses can also include divorce, estrangement, illness, relocation, job changes, and more. Our minds and hearts have enough trouble coping with a single loss, so when the losses pile up, the grief often seems especially chaotic and defeating. The good news is that through intentional, active mourning, you can and will find your way back to hope and healing. This compassionate guide will show you how.